


Minor Burn

by Trexi



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Gen, Post-Episode: s01e13 Le Morte D'Arthur, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 07:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15043790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trexi/pseuds/Trexi
Summary: Arthur is waiting in their chambers when Merlin and Gaius get back from The Isle of the Blessed. He’s got a few questions, like why nobody told him Hunith was there and what Merlin’s doing with a giant burn on his chest.





	Minor Burn

For someone who’s happy to be my servant until the day he dies, I expected Merlin to actually show up for his duties this morning. Instead, I got woken up by someone who clearly wasn’t my manservant, and while they were infinity better at Merlin’s job than he is, that doesn’t make it okay for the idiot to disappear. Especially considering what he said yesterday sounded a lot like someone saying goodbye and I wouldn’t put it passed him to go nobly sacrificing himself when it really isn’t necessary.

Suffice to say, if I find out that Merlin’s just sleeping in, I’m going to have him in the stocks for a week, at the very least.

That lazy idiot is lucky I’m not allowed to do training and the Crown Prince of Camelot himself is marching through the castle to drag his butt out of bed. Most would be honoured for the privilege. I’m sure if Father heard about how Merlin didn’t show up to take care of his injured master, he’d be thrown in the dungeons for a month and maybe even stripped of his position. Merlin better hope that he has a good excuse or I just might tell Father all about his insolence.

“MERLIN!” I shout and slam the Physician’s Chamber’s door open.

“Prince Arthur, I take it you haven’t seen my son either,” a quiet voice says.

I whip my head around and freeze at the sight of Hunith weakly sitting on the patient’s bed.

I frown at her paleness. “You’re ill.” And Merlin didn’t tell me. Is this why he seemed so sad?

“The worst has passed. I’ve Gaius to thank for that, but I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“They’re both missing?” I confirm, walking inside.

Hunith goes to answer, but stops as the door slams open again.

“I swear I only started feeling faint in the last hour. I’m probably fine,” Merlin says, his skin somehow paler than normal.

“I know you well enough by now to tell when you’re lying to me, Merlin,” Gaius says, the first to see me standing in the middle of his chambers. “Sire, what are you doing here?”

Merlin finally looks at me and of course he has to grin. “That shoulder’s not going to heal if you go stampeding around the castle.”

“I wasn’t stampeding around the castle, Merlin. I was looking for my useless excuse of a manservant.”

“Well, I wasn’t here.”

“I can see that.” I fold my arms. “Now, are you going to tell me why you look one second away from fainting or are you going to keep standing there like an idiot?”

“I...” Merlin’s eyes shift behind me. “Mother!” He rushes forward. “You’re okay!”

Hunith smiles at him. “I can’t say the same for you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me she was ill?” I ask.

Merlin scratches the back of his head, wincing a little. “Well, you were recovering from the Questing Beast bite, then Mother came here in the middle of the night looking like death, and we were caught up in looking after both of you, then Gaius decided to leave for rare herbs instead of getting me to go because he wanted me to stay with my mother, and in all of that I forgot to mention that she was here to you.” Merlin shrugs. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

“She’s your mother!”

Gaius clears his throat. “Hunith, could you please get me some burn salve and bandages. Merlin, tunic off and lie down. If I don’t treat you now, there’s bound to be permanent damage.” He turns to me. “Sire, I’m sorry Merlin was absent this morning and I’m afraid I’ll need him on bed rest for the remainder of the day, at least.”

“What happened?” I ask.

Hunith and Merlin trade places. I get my answer when Merlin takes his tunic off. A massive deep red burn spreads across his chest. I’ve never seen anything like it on a living person before, but the pattern I do recognise. Only magic could do that kind of damage. Merlin smiles at me and shrugs a little under my glare, groaning when Gaius forces him to lie down.

“What happened?” I ask again.

Gaius and Merlin share a look. Merlin rolls his eyes and settles for playing with his discarded neckerchief.

“What do you know of the sorceress Nimueh?” Gaius asks.

Hunith hands him the salve and prepares the bandages, shaking her head at Merlin.

“She tried to kill me when I went after the Mortaeus flower, but said something about it not being her destiny or something.” I pause. “Did she want Merlin to die? Did she do this?”

Merlin chuckles. “She thought she’d killed me.”

“What were you doing confronting a sorceress?” I shout.

“She attacked me, sire,” Gaius says. “Merlin came after me because he suspected I was in danger. You must know as well as I that the boy’s hunches are generally correct. Nimueh threw a fireball at Merlin and thought him dead. She was overconfident in her abilities which allowed him to get the upper hand.”

“Merlin, the upper hand in a fight?” I ask, incredulous.

“He saved my life, sire,” Gaius says. “To defeat a High Priestess is no easy feat, even if she was distracted.”

“So what, he hit her in the back of the head with a piece of wood?” I joke.

Gaius frowns. “Nothing quite so ... temporary.”

Oh. I turn to Merlin. “You killed her.”

“She will not harm anyone else,” he says gravely, and promptly passes out.

I shake my head. “How long until he’ll be able to return to his duties?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Gaius says.

“Well, I suppose he can have today off and however long he needs for that to heal. But the moment he’s well enough, I’m going to have him mucking out the stables for rushing into danger again.” Gaius raises an eyebrow and clearly hears the ‘without me’. “And next time, the idiot better tell me when his mother is ill. I won’t have him distracted while doing his duties.” That gets me a smile from Hunith that I could’ve sworn she reserved for Merlin.

I march out of there before they read anything else into my words, but can’t help hearing Hunith’s soft, “I knew it was right to send Merlin here,” on my way out.

**Author's Note:**

> I find it hard to believe that Arthur wouldn't somehow know Hunith was in Camelot.


End file.
